


waves in a silent sea

by phantomthieves



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: F/M, Hidden Secrets, Mysteries, Prince Link - Freeform, Princess Zelda - Freeform, Scholar Zelda, Spirit World, Warrior Zelda, fallen kingdoms, shes all of these things, spirit link
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2020-09-24
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:40:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26638222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phantomthieves/pseuds/phantomthieves
Summary: She didn't know why this wasn't on the maps. Such a large place--for the love of Hylia, this was a whole other castle here, and it really wasn't on the maps she'd looked at back at home. There's no way something like this would go unmarked. She frowns, then bites her lip in thought. Looking over the castle, she decides that she needs to go back and try to find older maps before she did any more exploring of the castle; This had to be on there somewhere. There had to be some information about it.She'd never heard of another kingdom around here, definitely not one this close to her own anyways. She shakes her head slightly to herself. Regardless… "I'll be back," She whispers, and almost as if responding, the wind brushes against her cheek, gently as a soft breath against her skin. She inhales deeply, her mind now made up for sure.Yeah. She'd find out about this place for sure… Whatever it was.***Zelda, a young princess and warrior in training, comes across a deserted, destroyed castle with no history attached to it. But when she accidentally crosses into the spirit realm and meets the spirit of a prince, could she possibly find out what happened to this abandoned kingdom?
Relationships: Link/Zelda (Legend of Zelda)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 21





	waves in a silent sea

**Author's Note:**

> hehe hi this is my first zelink fic and it’s kinda based off a dream i had before ......i hope u enjoy it!!!! and just a reminder that comments and kudos mean so much to me :’) love u guys

The sun flits through the spaces in the leaves in the trees above Princess Zelda's head, casting a warm glow in various spots on the forest floor, illuminating various foliage and flora. She could hear birds tweeting around her, along with the gentle babbling of a small nearby brook. It was a peaceful afternoon, warm and lovely. She takes a seat under a tree, sitting on a large root popping out of the ground, taking her field journal out of her bag. She knew most of this forest like the back of her hand, but today she'd felt like exploring a bit more out of bounds than normal; Her father would kill her if he knew she'd gone so far from the kingdom grounds, but she didn't really care right now. What she cared about was taking notes on her surroundings. She'd been cooped up in the castle far too long for her liking and was feeling just a little rebellious. 

She looks around and writes a few things down. There was a small burrow in a tree, home to squirrels. A few beehives resided in the tops of the trees, away from potential predators. The flowers, bushes, and trees seemed to be thriving, bright and colorful and lush with life. She smiles a bit as she writes it down, making little sketches of the plants she sees. This part of the forest must be on good land, she thinks to herself. She continues taking in her surroundings, and she stops when her eyes land on something gray and mossy far in the distance, up against part of the mountain walls; It was probably just a normal, average stone, but considering she hasn't spotted any like that thus far, it peaks her interest. 

She gets up, putting her journal back in her bag. She heads over to the cliff face, keeping her eyes trained on her objective. Upon getting closer, she sees that it's some sort of brick half in the ground, half out. A large brick at that, one that closely resembled the bricks her own castle was built out of. She hums quietly, kneeling by it to inspect it, running her fingertips over the smooth stone. What was this doing all the way out here? She glances around, then stands up to look around even more, keeping an eye out for anymore of these odd bricks. 

Unfortunately, she finds none. She looks back down at the brick, confused. She hadn't known of any other structures out here, but… then again, most maps she knew were very recent. It was possible something _had_ been here on maps before that just wasn't now. She puts her hands on her hips, thinking. 

Okay, maybe she was overthinking a simple, random brick, but this was interesting to her; Most things were, considering she was stuck in the castle more often than not lately, and she hardly ever had chances to get out. She takes her journal out again and quickly takes note of any landmarks around her. She was going to go home and look at some of the maps in the library with the hopes they'd have any information on this location. She starts heading back the way she came taking in her surroundings one last time before leaving. As she walks, she tries to be mindful of the distance from there back to the castle, hoping it'd be easier to locate the area on any maps she looked at.

She doesn't bother sneaking in, despite it now being past curfew. Just a little rebellion wouldn't hurt, she thinks. She'd done a lot of studying and training to please her father, so she thought she at least deserved this. However, she's quite wrong. She's almost immediately greeted by her father upon closing the door to the back entrance. 

She goes still. "Good evening, Father," She says with a small smile. 

The King sighs. "Zelda. You know your curfew," He murmurs, crossing his arms. "You were to be back hours ago, why were you so late?" 

Zelda folds her hands behind her back. "I was wandering around the forest. I just went a little farther than normal today," She explains, shrugging slightly. 

The King stiffens a bit. "How much farther, hm?" 

Zelda sighs in response. "To the cliff face."

He frowns at her. "Do not go that far again. It's dangerous, the earth there is unsteady and could come down at any time."

Zelda suppresses an eye roll. "Yes, Father," She murmurs. Then, she changes the subject. "May I go to the library? I," She glances away. "Need to do some studying. I'm not quite steady with my sword yet." 

The King nods sagely. "At least eat dinner before you go. And please, get to bed on time, Zelda," He requests with a sigh before he turns and walks away, leaving Zelda alone in the entryway. She watches him for a moment before begrudgingly heading to the kitchen to retrieve her dinner. This was annoying, she thought, only wanting to get to work. She hoped that she still remembers the vague location when she was finished. 

After a quick dinner, which she thanked the chefs for, she got up from the table and left the dining room, heading down the long, winding hallways it took to get to the library. She'd never be happy about living in such a big place...

Closing the door behind her, she takes a look around the library like she's done a thousand times before. The smell of old books was potent, but definitely not unwelcome. In fact, it was calming to Zelda. The walls were filled top to bottom with books, steps and ladders positioned in various places for ease of access to the higher shelves, a few other doors leading to various storage rooms breaking up book sections. One storage room, she knew, held maps, old and new, that went back at least a hundred years. She'd gone there before several times to have proper directions when going to the various towns and villages to do her princessly duties of making sure no one village or town was doing too poorly. But that's not what she was thinking about now.

She heads over to the door leading to the map room, only to find that it's padlocked. She frowns, holding the padlock in her hand, turning it over to inspect it. That was strange, this room was never locked. With a sigh, she lets the lock go and turns away from the door, trying to think. Well, she had a couple options… 

One, she could ask her father why it was locked, and if he would unlock it for her. 

Or, two, she could sneak back down in the middle of the night and pick the lock herself when nobody was looking. 

After a moment of though, she ultimately decides that this is a fight she didn't want to have with her father. She won't ask, and she won't pick any locks. After all, it was just a random brick in the forest. It wasn't really that big of a deal, and it was probably just nothing but that--a random brick. 

She was just overthinking things way too much for her own good.

  
  


* * *

Zelda grunts as her partner's sword clashes with her own, making her dig her feet into the ground a bit more as she shoves them back, quickly spinning and swinging her sword at them, the tip of her blade a breath away from hitting their face as she steps towards them. "I win," She whispers breathlessly, smirking at them. With a huff, her sparring partner bows out, resigning. Zelda slides her sword back into its sheath, waving at them as they walk off. She wipes her forehead with the back of her hand. 

Sometimes she wondered if she were really cut out to be a warrior. She didn't particularly think so, much preferring to be in the library, out in the woods, researching with the castle scientists… _Learning_ is what she loved, not swordfighting or anything of the sort. But her father disagreed, and her father's word was law. Sighing, she takes off her gloves, heading back inside to rest in her room for a bit before lunch. 

Just her luck, she runs into her father on her way in. "Ah- Good morning, Father," She says with a polite smile. The King looks down at her, steadying her by her shoulders. 

"Good morning, Zelda. How did your training go?" He asks, and she chuckles. 

"I'm pleased to inform you that I've won another sparring session," She says proudly, puffing out her chest a bit. "I like to think I'm getting much better than I was." 

The King pats her head, laughing quietly. "I can tell. Very good, Zelda." She looks up at him, smiling a bit. In the back of her mind, a small question burns, one that's been nagging for a few days now. She takes a breath. 

"Um… Father? The other day, I went to look in the map room…" She shifts, putting her hands behind her back. "But it was locked. It usually isn't."

The King doesn't respond for a moment, as if he's thinking. Then, he sighs. "Ah, I must've forgotten to tell you. The staff was moving some things around, so some of the rooms were off-limits for a while. I'm sorry, it should be open now. What were you looking to do?" He asks, raising an eyebrow at a now visibly excited Zelda. 

"Oh, I just found an old path in the first the other day that I hadn't seen before," She lies effortlessly. "I thought it might lead somewhere or something-" She glances past him. "May I be excused, Father?" She asks slightly impatiently. The King smirks. 

"Of course, Zelda. Have a good afternoon," He says to her, and she doesn't even respond before briskly walking off to the library, not even bothering to freshen up from the morning's activities. The King watches her go, his smile fading as his thoughts begin swirling in his mind. 

He didn't like whatever she was up to. He wasn't sure what it was, but he didn't have a good feeling about it at all. 

* * *

Zelda pulls open the door to the new map room, which, like her father had said, was now open. She sighs and starts looking through the various maps, trying to find the most recent one they had, eying the dates inscribed on the many, many scrolls that were around the room. 

"Ah," She breathes when she finds one dated the current year. She slides it out of its tube and unrolls it, laying it out over the table in the middle of the room. She finds their castle, then the forest nearby. Then, she leans a bit closer, running her finger along the various roads and paths that ran through the forest. Eventually, she reaches the cliff face and scans all along it, hoping to find what she's looking for. To her dismay, there's no building on the map anywhere near where she'd found the brick. Frowning, she steps back, putting her hands in her hips. Hm. It must be on an older map then, she was certain there had been something there before.

Unless she really _was_ just digging into nothing... She huffs, rolling the map back up and putting it away, feeling just a bit irritated. Deciding to skip lunch--and the rest of her princessly duties of the day--she quickly heads to her room to get ready to head back into the forest to look around a little more in the hopes of finding some other clues, deciding that if she found something bigger or more significant, she'd come back and look at the older maps. She has _no_ idea why such an insignificant thing was consuming her attention this much. It was nothing, and yet she felt drawn to this, drawn to finding out what exactly this was about. 

She heads out the back entrance after grabbing her sword from the armory, determined to find something else out there. Luckily, she's able to find her way back rather easily. In fact, she's kind of amazed she'd never wandered this far before now considering how close it was to her usual areas. She heads back to the brick, which is still in its place. She kneels beside it, tilting her head. "I know there's something odd about you," She murmurs, reaching her hand out and running her fingers across the cool, bumpy stone. She looks up and glances around a bit more, standing up and walking around, trying to find anything else.

As she walks along the cliff face nearby, she notices a large portion of the walls covered in thick ivy and climbing leaves and roots, going all the way up the cliffs. And there, at the base of the foliage, was another brick. She walks over to it quickly, then glances around the ground around it. There's another, then another. She inhales sharply as she realizes the bricks are actually going into the ivy on the cliffs--or maybe they were embedded in the cliffs..? Her brow furrows in confusion as she slowly reaches towards the ivy, hoping to get some sort of answer here. 

To her shock, and relief, her hand goes right through it, proving there's a way to walk inside. With no hesitation, she pushes past the ivy and steps through it, her heart almost stopping when she sees exactly what she's just discovered. The cave behind the ivy led _through_ the cliffs, and she can see sunlight at the end of the cave. She looks at the walls of the cave, seeing scratch upon scratch as if it's been struck over and over by something, probably some sort of weapon. Both sides had such scratches and it makes her slightly nervous. She's relieved when she remembers that her sword is at her side; It brought her comfort to know she could defend herself, need be. 

She emerges from the cave to discover not only that the cliffs actually acted as a wall, but before her and this cave opening was a _gigantic_ structure made of the very bricks she'd found outside. It looked like the bones of a castle, although nearly all the walls and towers were collapsed, and it didn't look like they'd collapsed naturally…

Her eyes are wide with wonder as she walks along the cliffs to see more of the castle, noting that it was definitely larger and more grand than her own, despite the fact it's crumbled to the ground. She also notes that there's nobody here. At least, not that she could see. It was very quiet, save for the birds chirping in the nearby trees and rustle of the wind in the leaves and in the tall grass at her feet. Here felt far more serene than the other side, her side, of the cliffs. She glances past the castle to see a vast expanse of not only forest, but rolling hills and flower filled plains. It was like she'd stepped into another world, one she couldn't even being the conceive before finding it. 

Her breath hitches in her throat as she takes a couple steps back towards the cliffs, her eyes carefully scanning the scenery in front of her. She didn't even know if she should be here; It almost felt like she wasn't allowed here, despite nobody being here, despite the area being essentially abandoned. She didn't know why this wasn't on the maps. Such a large place--for the love of Hylia, this was a whole other _castle_ here, and it really wasn't on the maps she'd looked at back at home. There's no way something like this would go unmarked. She frowns, then bites her lip in thought. Looking over the castle, she decides that she needs to go back and try to find older maps before she did any more exploring of the castle; This had to be on there somewhere. There had to be some information about it. 

She'd never heard of another kingdom around here, definitely not one this close to her own anyways. Perhaps, if she can't find anything on maps, she'll ask her father about it. Although, that might not be wise considering she'd gone so far from the castle grounds exactly like she wasn't supposed to. She shakes her head slightly to herself. Regardless… "I'll be back," She whispers, and almost as if responding, the wind brushes against her cheek, gently as a soft breath against her skin. She inhales deeply, her mind now made up for sure. 

Yeah. She'd find out about this place for sure… Whatever it was.

* * *

Zelda drops an armful of maps on the table in the map room, sorting through them by date and organizing them in front of her. She wants to start at the oldest map they have, hoping it's all there. "Okay," She whispers, looking at the dates on the sides of the tubes. They were supposed to have maps that went back one hundred years… but as she scans the dates, she notices that one year--what would be map one-hundred--was missing. She sits up, raising an eyebrow and glancing around the room. She turns around to face the racks where the map tubes sat. They were empty, because she'd pulled them all out.

She huffs, kneeling on the floor and looking under the table, then under the racks. There wasn't any more tubes. Frowning, she stands up again. Maybe she missed it as she was organizing… She turns her attention back to the table, scanning the dates again. Sure enough, the oldest map wasn't there. She sighs, shaking her head to herself. Maybe it'd just gotten old beyond repair or something. She walks out of the map room, glancing around the library. After spotting the castle's librarian up on a ladder nearby, she hurries up to her. 

"Excuse me!" She calls up, and the librarian glances down. 

"Ah, Princess!" She hurriedly climbs down the ladder. "What can I help you with?" She asks, smiling politely. Zelda smiles sheepishly, folding her hands.

"Well, I was looking through the maps in the map room, and it appears one is missing. You wouldn't happen to know what happened to it, would you?" 

The librarian thinks for a moment. Then, she shakes her head. "No, Princess, I apologize. They were all supposed to be there, but it's possible that it may have gotten lost during the move, unfortunately…" She looks away, then around the library. "I could look for it, if you'd like." 

Zelda shakes her head. "No, it's alright, don't worry," She assures her, sighing. "Thank you anyways," She says with a smile before heading back. Well, there goes that. 

She'd just have to skip it then, and hope that it wasn't on that last map. She sits down at the table then pulls the _second_ oldest map out of its tube, unrolling it and inspecting it. 

Where she suspected the castle might be, there was nothing. Confused, she peers closer. This certainly couldn't be right. With a begrudging sigh, she rolls it back up. Maybe it hadn't been build yet at that point in time. She takes the next tube. Well, it looked like this was where her night was going… 

Map after map, tube after tube, paper cut after paper cut, she looks at each and every map she had. And not once did she see any other castle. She'd gone through ninety-nine maps, and nothing held any valuable information. She puts her face in her hands, starting to wonder if she might've been hallucinating the whole thing. And if she hadn't been, would it be on that last map? Where had that last map gone? She sits up, glancing at the clock on the wall. 

Great, it was past midnight. She was just a little surprised that her father hadn't sent anyone searching for her once it hit her bedtime. Deciding to continue tomorrow, she stands up, rubbing her eyes tiredly. What a stressful day; She had a headache that she hoped would go away by morning. 

She heads straight to bed, relieved that she doesn't run into her father on the way, and falls into a restless sleep. 

  
  


* * *

She had to be overthinking it all, she had to be. Why had she suddenly become so obsessed with something so insignificant? Something that really could just be nothing… She walks down the hall from her room, strapping her gloves on as her mind wanders. She had some training to do today, but she was tempted to skip it again. It's not like she was going to war any time soon, so there was really no point to be training so much in her mind. Regardless, she makes her way down to the training grounds… but not before running into her father on her way out. 

He seemed stressed, maybe a little worried. "Good morning, Father," Zelda chimes with a smile, her hands folded behind her back. "Are you alright?" 

He sighs. "I'm fine, Zelda." He quickly changes the subject. "Off to train?" He asks, and Zelda nods. 

"If it's alright," She starts, rocking on her feet a bit. "I'd like to ask you a question before I go." 

The King raises an eyebrow, his body going a bit rigid, as if suddenly on guard. "What is it?" 

She takes a breath. "Would you happen to know what happened to a map that was lost in the map room?" She asks, looking up at him. He doesn't respond for a moment. Then, he smiles. 

"Actually, I might. I recall grabbing an old one for some research, I might have it up in my study. Why don't you go train, and I'll look for it, hm?" He suggests with a little pat to her shoulder. She nods, smiling. 

"See you for lunch," She says cheerfully as she jogs off to meet with her trainer. She couldn't help but feel a bit giddy. She had a feeling that that last map would be the one she was looking for. She just knew it. However, it left her impatient; She wanted to get back to searching that area in the cliffs, she wanted to see that map… She hoped that she could cut this short somehow. Once she's out on the training grounds, she looks around for her trainer. She spots her off in a bit of shade under a tree, cleaning Zelda's training sword. Zelda walks over to her, hands on her hips. "Good morning."

"Ah, good morning, Princess." She stands up. "Ready to get started? I have a trick I want to-"

"My apologies, but do you mind if we make this quick?" Zelda asks, smiling slightly. "There's some work I have to tend to today," She explains, and her trainer raises an eyebrow. 

"Ah… I'm not sure your father would appreciate me cutting a lesson short," The trainer tells her with a slight shake of her head. Zelda frowns, glancing away. 

"I really don't think it's that important," She murmurs, digging her toe into the dirt a little. "We haven't had any wars in…" Her voice trails off. Wait. When _had_ the last war been? 

"A hundred years," The trainer finishes for her, handing her the sword. Zelda pauses, looking at her. The trainer chuckles. "Why do you think our kingdom is the only one around?" She asks with a shake of her head. Zelda doesn't respond, a bit surprised. She hadn't actually known about the war…

A hundred years. The castle behind the cliffs that was destroyed. They had 99 maps going back 99 years. She looks away, the gears in her mind starting to turn as she thinks. That hundredth map… She looks at her trainer. "I'm sorry, I have to go," She mutters before dropping her sword and hurrying off. The trainer watches her go, just a little confused. Huh. What an odd girl. 

She was too focused on scholarly work, she definitely wouldn't make a very good soldier.

* * *

Her father left the map in the map room, open for Zelda to see. Upon scouring the map, she sees that, sure enough… There was the castle she’d found. Her heart leaps; It was there. It was really there, and it really existed at some point in time. She bites her lip, stepping back from it. She had to go back. She had to go back to see it, explore it for real this time now that she knew she wasn't actually going crazy. By now it was getting late, almost her bedtime, but… Oh well. She leaves the map room, then heads to her room to grab a lantern, lighting it on her way out of the castle. 

She tells the guards to shush as she walks past them, and they nod, knowing that she was just being like any other teenager; Sure they knew they'd get in trouble if the King found out they'd let her go, but they also knew how strict the Princess' schedule and activities were. She jogs a bit, being careful of the lantern, and doesn't stop until she reaches the cliff face, all the way through the forest, just to get far away from the castle grounds as quick as she could. She scans the cliffs, looking for that spot she went through last time. "Ah-" She hurries towards it, pushing aside the ivy and letting the lantern in first to provide her with light to avoid accidentally running into something.

As she emerges, she's relieved to find that the castle is just like she remembered it, but now, it meant a lot more to be here. Something happened a hundred years ago that destroyed this castle. A war so terrible it erased an entire community, an entire royal bloodline, an entire kingdom… She steels herself, walking around the castle as she tries to find a suitable entrance. She comes across what would appear to be the front of the castle after a lengthy walk around the perimeter, and she takes a breath. It honestly looked much like her own home, except… well, far more destroyed. 

She glances around before taking that step onto the threshold, and almost instantly the wind is knocked out of her, making her squeeze her eyes shut in pain, the lantern tumbling to the ground, the flame inside going out. "Ah- Damn-" She falls to her knees, gasping to catch her breath. Had something hit her? Certainly not, there was nothing here that could possibly do this. She falls forward, her hands bracing the ground as the world seems to start swirling right under her. A wave of nausea overcomes her, and she has to do her best not to throw up. 

Almost as if a switch was turned, it all ceases, and the ground beneath her glows with a soft blue light. A pair of boots appear just in her peripheral, stepping close, but not too close. She takes another sharp breath as cold shoots down her spine. She tries to calm herself before she finally looks up, her heart beating fast. There, in front of her, was the spirit of a young man, dressed much like herself, his face soft but emotionless. Again, much like herself most of the time. He must've been a prince, she thinks, as her eyes widen in shock. 

He stands before her, one hand on his chest, the other behind his back, a gentle smile coming to his lips as he bows to her. She swallows hard before standing up, her first instinct to curtesy back to him, her legs shaking just a little bit. As she straightens, she takes a deep, steadying breath, looking right in his eyes.

What--No, _who_ \--had she just encountered? 


End file.
